---
stage: Verify
group: Pipeline Execution
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
type: reference, howto
---

# Customize pipeline configuration **(FREE ALL)**

You can customize how pipelines run for your project.

<i class="fa fa-youtube-play youtube" aria-hidden="true"></i>
For an overview of pipelines, watch the video [GitLab CI Pipeline, Artifacts, and Environments](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCKDICEe10s).
Watch also [GitLab CI pipeline tutorial for beginners](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jav4vbUrqII).

## Change which users can view your pipelines

For public and internal projects, you can change who can see your:

- Pipelines
- Job output logs
- Job artifacts
- [Pipeline security dashboard](../../user/application_security/vulnerability_report/pipeline.md#view-vulnerabilities-in-a-pipeline)

To change the visibility of your pipelines and related features:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Settings > CI/CD**.
1. Expand **General pipelines**.
1. Select or clear the **Public pipelines** checkbox.
   When it is selected, pipelines and related features are visible:

   - For [**Public**](../../user/public_access.md) projects, to everyone.
   - For **Internal** projects, to all authenticated users except [external users](../../administration/external_users.md).
   - For **Private** projects, to all project members (Guest or higher).

   When it is cleared:

   - For **Public** projects, job logs, job artifacts, the pipeline security dashboard,
     and the **CI/CD** menu items are visible only to project members (Reporter or higher).
     Other users, including guest users, can only view the status of pipelines and jobs, and only
     when viewing merge requests or commits.
   - For **Internal** projects, pipelines are visible to all authenticated users except [external users](../../administration/external_users.md).
     Related features are visible only to project members (Reporter or higher).
   - For **Private** projects, pipelines and related features are visible to project members (Reporter or higher) only.

### Change pipeline visibility for non-project members in public projects

You can control the visibility of pipelines for non-project members in [public projects](../../user/public_access.md).

This setting has no effect when:

- Project visibility is set to [**Internal** or **Private**](../../user/public_access.md),
  because non-project members cannot access internal or private projects.
- The [**Public pipelines**](#change-which-users-can-view-your-pipelines) setting is disabled.

To change the pipeline visibility for non-project members:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Settings > General**.
1. Expand **Visibility, project features, permissions**.
1. For **CI/CD**, choose:
   - **Only project members**: Only project members can view pipelines.
   - **Everyone With Access**: Non-project members can also view pipelines.
1. Select **Save changes**.

The [CI/CD permissions table](../../user/permissions.md#gitlab-cicd-permissions)
lists the pipeline features non-project members can access when **Everyone With Access**
is selected.

## Auto-cancel redundant pipelines

You can set pending or running pipelines to cancel automatically when a pipeline for new changes runs on the same branch. You can enable this in the project settings:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Settings > CI/CD**.
1. Expand **General Pipelines**.
1. Select the **Auto-cancel redundant pipelines** checkbox.
1. Select **Save changes**.

Use the [`interruptible`](../yaml/index.md#interruptible) keyword to indicate if a
running job can be cancelled before it completes.

## Prevent outdated deployment jobs

> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/25276) in GitLab 12.9.
> - In GitLab 15.5, the behavior was [changed](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/363328) to prevent outdated job runs.

Your project may have multiple concurrent deployment jobs that are
scheduled to run in the same time frame.

This can lead to a situation where an older deployment job runs after a
newer one, which may not be what you want.

To avoid this scenario:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Settings > CI/CD**.
1. Expand **General pipelines**.
1. Select the **Prevent outdated deployment jobs** checkbox.
1. Optional. Clear the **Allow job retries for rollback deployments** checkbox.
1. Select **Save changes**.

For more information, see [Deployment safety](../environments/deployment_safety.md#prevent-outdated-deployment-jobs).

## Specify a custom CI/CD configuration file

> Support for external `.gitlab-ci.yml` locations [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/14376) in GitLab 12.6.

GitLab expects to find the CI/CD configuration file (`.gitlab-ci.yml`) in the project's root
directory. However, you can specify an alternate filename path, including locations outside the project.

To customize the path:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Settings > CI/CD**.
1. Expand **General pipelines**.
1. In the **CI/CD configuration file** field, enter the filename. If the file:
   - Is not in the root directory, include the path.
   - Is in a different project, include the group and project name.
   - Is on an external site, enter the full URL.
1. Select **Save changes**.

NOTE:
You cannot use your project's [pipeline editor](../pipeline_editor/index.md) to
edit CI/CD configuration files in other projects or on an external site.

### Custom CI/CD configuration file examples

If the CI/CD configuration file is not in the root directory, the path must be relative to it.
For example:

- `my/path/.gitlab-ci.yml`
- `my/path/.my-custom-file.yml`

If the CI/CD configuration file is on an external site, the URL must end with `.yml`:

- `http://example.com/generate/ci/config.yml`

If the CI/CD configuration file is in a different project:

- The file must exist on its default branch, or specify the branch as refname.
- The path must be relative to the root directory in the other project.
- The path must be followed by an `@` symbol and the full group and project path.

For example:

- `.gitlab-ci.yml@namespace/another-project`
- `my/path/.my-custom-file.yml@namespace/sub-group/another-project`
- `my/path/.my-custom-file.yml@namespace/sub-group1/sub-group2/another-project:refname`

If the configuration file is in a separate project, you can set more granular permissions. For example:

- Create a public project to host the configuration file.
- Give write permissions on the project only to users who are allowed to edit the file.

Then other users and projects can access the configuration file without being
able to edit it.

## Choose the default Git strategy

You can choose how your repository is fetched from GitLab when a job runs.

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Settings > CI/CD**.
1. Expand **General pipelines**.
1. Under **Git strategy**, select an option:
   - `git clone` is slower because it clones the repository from scratch
     for every job. However, the local working copy is always pristine.
   - `git fetch` is faster because it re-uses the local working copy (and falls
     back to clone if it doesn't exist). This is recommended, especially for
     [large repositories](../large_repositories/index.md#git-strategy).

The configured Git strategy can be overridden by the [`GIT_STRATEGY` variable](../runners/configure_runners.md#git-strategy)
in the `.gitlab-ci.yml` file.

## Limit the number of changes fetched during clone

> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/merge_requests/28919) in GitLab 12.0.
> - [Changed](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/77576) `git depth` value in GitLab 14.7.

You can limit the number of changes that GitLab CI/CD fetches when it clones
a repository.

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Settings > CI/CD**.
1. Expand **General pipelines**.
1. Under **Git strategy**, under **Git shallow clone**, enter a value.
   The maximum value is `1000`. To disable shallow clone and make GitLab CI/CD
   fetch all branches and tags each time, keep the value empty or set to `0`.

In GitLab versions 14.7 and later, newly created projects have a default `git depth`
value of `20`. GitLab versions 14.6 and earlier have a default `git depth` value of `50`.

This value can be overridden by the [`GIT_DEPTH` variable](../large_repositories/index.md#shallow-cloning)
in the `.gitlab-ci.yml` file.

## Set a limit for how long jobs can run

You can define how long a job can run before it times out.

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Settings > CI/CD**.
1. Expand **General pipelines**.
1. In the **Timeout** field, enter the number of minutes, or a human-readable value like `2 hours`.
   Must be 10 minutes or more, and less than one month. Default is 60 minutes.

Jobs that exceed the timeout are marked as failed.

You can override this value [for individual runners](../runners/configure_runners.md#set-maximum-job-timeout-for-a-runner).

## Pipeline badges

You can use [pipeline badges](../../user/project/badges.md) to indicate the pipeline status and
test coverage of your projects. These badges are determined by the latest successful pipeline.
